Egyptian court to rule in Morsi trial over document leaks to Qatar

An Egyptian court is expected to deliver a verdict Saturday in the trial of toppled Islamist president Mohammed Morsi on charges of jeopardizing national security by allegedly leaking secret state documents to Qatar while in office.

The documents are related to the Egyptian army and other state institutions, according to the semi-official newspaper al-Ahram.

Qatar is a key ally of Morsi's now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Four of the case's 11 defendants were tried in absentia, according to the report. The accused could face the death penalty if convicted.

Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, was deposed by the military in 2013 following mass protests against his rule.

In June 2015, another court sentenced Morsi to death after convicting him of involvement in a mass prison escape during Egypt's 2011 uprising.

The court also handed him life imprisonment on charges of conspiring with foreign organizations in conducting the jailbreak.

Morsi, 64, is being tried in a separate case on charges of defaming the judiciary.

He has dismissed the charges in all the cases as politically motivated.

Beirut (dpa) - Syrian government forces and their allies advanced deeper into the shrinking rebel-held enclave in eastern Aleppo on Wednesday, seizing the Old City, while demanding the armed opposition groups leave the area.